𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫.

028.

cindy hid the frown on her face, especially knowing jeremiah would be able to see right through it.

"hey. what's with the crown?" she asked, furrowing her brows slightly. "you look like some kind of greek god."

he chuckled to himself, "my mom's out to paint me as hermes, messenger of the gods."

"cool." she replied dryly as she looked around the backyard.

jeremiah noticed, "who you looking for?"

"um, i thought maybe conrad would be back by now." she admitted.

he sighed lowly, remembering the night before, what he had saw. "where have you been?"

she tucked her hair behind her ear, frowning slightly. "i, uh, had a picnic with matt."

"oh, cute. how is matt?" jeremiah smiled up at her.

"i don't think we're gonna hang out anymore."
cindy replied, her voice tinged with sadness.

it finally hit her.

she had lost a perfect boy.

jeremiah frowned, "oh. well, poor matt. for the record, i liked him. and you don't look that upset. but, if you are, this little nugget will cheer you up. the moms..are high key stoned right now."

"no way!" cindy gawked, her jaw dropping, as she playfully shoved his shoulder.

"yeah. all my favorite snacks are gone." jeremiah laughed, leading her towards the back door where they crept in, peeking at them behind the door frame.

inside the kitchen, they found loads of snacks spread around as susannah and laurel who were engrossed in conversation about the conspiracy of kurt cobain.

"oh!" susannah cried out with joy as her eyes landed on the two intruders. "our beautiful babies! i got to get you while the light's still good."

jeremiah smiled at his mother as she ran up to him, cupping his cheek gently, "okay, well, let's do that."

cindy walked deeper into the messy kitchen, glancing around with wide eyes. "oh, what have you guys been doing?"

"oh, just talking, snacking." laurel shrugged as she reached for her phone, turning it so the girl could see, "hey, what do you think of this text?"

cindy covered her mouth in shock as she read the message, "oh, my god. the guy you hooked up with last night was cleveland castillo?"

"it wasn't planned. one thing led to another, and we ended up having sex in my car." laurel spilled, making cindy twist her face up at the image, "what did i say?"

laurel ran her fingers through cindy's hair, cindy whined as she swatted her hands away, "easy, laurel. you're gonna rip my hair out."

"let me braid your hair." laurel smiled, reaching for the girl as she backed away.

cindy ran to the door, swinging it open as she called out for jeremiah who was dancing with his mother, "jeremiah, please save me! laurel wants to braid my hair!"

laurel came up behind her, and the two laughed loudly, pausing when they heard a voice calling them. they hurried down the steps and stopped in front of a painting, tilting their heads as they tried to make out what it possibly was.

"picasso and jackson pollock had a baby."
laurel hummed, admiring the piece of art as susannah furrowed her brows.

she immediately started laughing, shaking her head, "oh, my god, it's terrible! it's so bad!"

"see, this is why old people should not do drugs," jeremiah commented, injecting a playful insult into his words.

susannah and laurel took offense as they glared at him, "how dare you! outraged! such... such blatant ageism. let's leave these brats and go walk on the beach."

jeremiah laughed, looking over at cindy who grinned back at him.